Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for Feb. 24, 2020

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Edited by Amy McCullough with Rachel S. Cohen and John A. Tirpak

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USAF, Space Force Want Extra $4.2B for Unfunded Priorities
By Amy McCullough

The Department of the Air Force has submitted a $4.2 billion unfunded priorities
list to Congress for fiscal 2021, which includes roughly $3.2 billion for the
U.S. Air Force and $1 billion for the fledgling U.S. Space Force. The USAF
request, which is significantly more than the additional $2.8 billion requested
in fiscal 2020, asks for an additional $1.3 billion for 12 more F-35 Joint
Strike Fighters and long-lead support items, as well as for money for advanced
technologies, weapons, and future ranges. The Space Force’s first unfunded
priorities list covers new technologies, warfighter development, asset
protection, and fielding additional systems.

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Preparing for Flat Funding, Secretaries Highlight Spending Priorities
By Rachel S. Cohen

Heading into budget negotiation season, the three civilian heads of the armed
forces outlined their looming struggles with Capitol Hill at a Feb. 21 Center
for Strategic and International Studies panel. Air Force Secretary Barbara
Barrett said it’s harder to convince lawmakers of the merits of investing in
space assets and digital networks because their benefits are more abstract than
a fighter jet or a tanker: “There aren’t tires to kick." Acting Navy
Secretary Thomas Modly added it’s presumptuous to think the Pentagon might get
a higher topline in fiscal 2022 and beyond.

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Empowering Disaster Response and Recovery From Space
When a natural disaster or emergency occur, an immediate and seamless response is necessary to
save lives. Operational and situational awareness becomes increasingly important to responders.
If critical infrastructure is down in the disaster zone, then the systems and networks required for
powering the relief efforts are compromised. Ground operations must look to space to solve their
communication needs. Read the full story.
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DOD Fights a Fake Nuclear War in Europe
By Rachel S. Cohen

U.S. Strategic Command simulated the possibility of nuclear conflict in Europe
for Defense Secretary Mark Esper during a visit this week to Offutt Air Force
Base, Neb. The exercise is part of the Pentagon’s routine slate of wargames
and other events that it uses to consider its steps if nuclear war erupts, and
comes as the U.S. is pursuing so-called “tactical” nuclear weapons to
counter similar assets in Russia’s stockpile. The exercise featured a pretend
Defense Secretary and a President facing a situation where Russia dropped a
low-yield nuclear weapon on “a site on NATO territory” in wartime, a senior
defense official told reporters Feb. 21. The United States hit back in a
“limited response” using another nuclear weapon.

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Roper Aims for 50 Percent Failure in Next ABMS Experiment
By John A. Tirpak

The next Airborne Battle Management System experiment, to take place April 8,
will be "massive" and include space superiority activities and the shoot-down of
both an unmanned aircraft and a cruise missile, Air Force acquisition chief Will
Roper told reporters February 21. He also discussed how the Air Force will go
about choosing contractors to build the ultimate system on a program that must
be developed altogether differently than any previous project.

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Radar Sweep

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Trump Praises Colorado Springs, but Makes No Commitment on U.S. Space Command

U.S. Space Command could spend another 10 months in limbo after President Donald
Trump spurned a full-press lobbying effort from Colorado to keep the command,
which is temporarily located at Peterson Air Force Base, and steered clear of a
commitment.

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OPINION: Who Should Join the U.S. Space Force?

“Determining the best way to transfer personnel into the Space Force is not an
easy task,” writes Army Maj. Gen. Ryan Stephenson, a space operations officer
assigned to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space
Acquisition and Integration. “DOD will have to balance its drive to change the
culture of our current space operators and streamline space activities, with the
potential impacts to other military branches that depend on space technology to
fight and win.

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US, Taliban Truce Takes Effect, Setting Stage for Peace Deal

A temporary truce between the United States and the Taliban took effect Feb. 21,
setting the stage for the two sides to sign a peace deal Feb. 29 aimed at ending
18 years of war in Afghanistan and bringing U.S. troops home.

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OPINION: ‘What We, the Taliban, Want’

“Everyone is tired of war,” writes Sirajuddin Haqqani, deputy leader of the
Taliban. “I am convinced that the killing and the maiming must stop.”

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Turkey Seeks U.S. Patriot Missiles to Deter Russia in Syria

Turkey has asked the U.S. to deploy two Patriot missile-defense batteries on its
southern border to free it to punish any future attacks by Russian-backed Syrian
troops, according to a senior Turkish official in Ankara.

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One More Thing...
L3Harris Experimental Satellite on Track for USAF Critical Design Review

The L3Harris-built Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3) platform is on
track for a critical design review by the Air Force Research Laboratory, after
the GPS satellite testbed cleared a preliminary design review by Air Force
officials in February. "It is basically the forerunner for the next-generation
of capability in GPS satellites," said Bill Gattle, president of space systems
at L3Harris' space and airborne systems division.

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Boeing Subsidiary Wins Contract from USAF to Modernize GDSS

Boeing subsidiary Tapestry Solutions has secured a five-year contract from the
Air Force to sustain and modernize the Global Decision Support System (GDSS)—a
key command and control software platform that supports global Air Mobility
Command missions.

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Defiant, Raider, and SARA Fly Together in First Public Demo

Three of Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky’s experimental helicopters flew together
for the first time in a public demonstration Feb. 20 at the company’s flight
test facility. The Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant coaxial demonstrator made its
public flight debut reaching a cruise speed of 140 knots and demonstrating
low-speed agility at lower acoustic levels compared to a conventional
helicopter.

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One More Thing...
All-Black Fairchild Aircrew Refuel Red Tail Squadron, Honor Black History

An all African-American KC-135 crew from Fairchild Air Force Base undertook a
mission to refuel F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 187th Fighter Wing, a historic
Red Tail Squadron, at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., Feb. 18, in honor of Black
History Month. The flight represented black military heritage and provided
tribute to the WWII Tuskegee Airmen, who played a significant wartime role and
paved the way for minority representation in today’s Air Force.

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